Box Score
INDIANAPOLIS -- Darius Adams finished with 21 points, six assists, four rebounds and three assists, but University of Indianapolis men's basketball fell to No. 6 Southern Indiana, 90-70, in front of 1,110 at Nicoson Hall on Thursday night.
Adrian Moss added 16 points, three assists and two rebounds for the Greyhounds (17-6, 10-5 GLVC), while
Wilbur O'Neal had 14 points and six rebounds, but fouled out in 19 minutes.
The Screaming Eagles (21-2, 13-2 GLVC) shot 58.3 percent (14-24) in the second half to finish at 49.1 percent (28-57) for the game and held UIndy to 40.7 percent shooting (24-59). USI tallied 13 steals as UIndy turned the ball over 18 times. USI out-rebounded UIndy, 39-31, including 14 offensive rebounds that led to 15 second-chance points.
"We were exposed on defense because we couldn't keep them in front of us," head coach
Stan Gouard said. "That allowed them to get in the lane and that's what got our big guys in foul trouble and let them shoot 38 free throws."
C.J. Trotter scored 24 points with five rebounds and four steals for the Eagles and Brandon Hogg had 13 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
"We had no rhythm offensively," Gouard said. "They did a great job in the passing lanes and made sure almost all of our shots were contested. We held on to the ball too long, didn't cut hard and didn't set good screens. All of that and we would panic too early in the shot clock."
A three-pointer by Adams kept the Hounds within six, 52-46, early in the second half when USI scored 10 in a row to start a 17-3 run that put them up by 20, 69-49, with 11:21 to play. The lead never fell below 15 points the rest of the way as Southern Indiana split the season series after UIndy won in Evansville, 70-68, on Jan. 22.
The Greyhounds held a trio of two-point leads to start the game, but USI came back to build a seven-point lead, 17-10, with 13:22 left in the first half. A 9-2 run by UIndy tied the game, 19-19, in 2:21 after Adams scored on the fast break and O'Neal made a free throw. The Screaming Eagles wouldn't let the Greyhounds regain the lead and pushed their lead back to seven, 34-27, with 4:42 left in the half. Adams hit a triple to cut the lead to four with 66 seconds left, but USI scored four straight before Moss drove the lane to score just before halftime and make it a six-point game, 42-36.
Midwest Region No. 10 UIndy remains at Nicoson Hall on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. to host Midwest Region No. 7 Kentucky Wesleyan (15-7, 8-7 GLVC). The 2011 class of the UIndy Athletics Hall of Fame will be recognized at halftime.
